Schneider Electric Usa, Inc.

Walter J Richards

German Romero Legorreta

Gary M Rosen

Tim Faber

Manuel Antonio Becerra Becerra

Jonathan Hastings

Viviana Guadalupe Ornelas Reyes

A passive arc control system for a motor control centerincludes an arc attenuating box having sides separating adjacent vertical bus bar phases, providing a physical barrier to arc flash energy. The box is open at its top and bottom forming a chimney. A shutter assembly for each box includes an insulator capon a free end of the bus bar and an independently moveable, box-shaped shutterthat slides along the bus bar away from the insulator cap, when a device is connected to the bus bar. The shutter has an openingthrough which the bus bar passes when the device is connected to the bus bar and an openingaligned with the box's chimney. The arc control system provides a high degree of arc protection for personnel working around open motor control centers and is highly modular and easy to construct.

Passive arc control with sequestered phases in a vertical bus system of a motor control center

A troubleshooting compartment for a motor control center unit, provides electrical access to test control points inside the motor control center unit, without exposing the operator to electrical hazards from the main line-voltage components inside the motor control center unit. The troubleshooting compartment comprises an accessible compartment contained within a motor control center unit, which is separate from a main line-voltage compartment of the motor control center unit, the accessible compartment having an access side to enable operator access to the accessible compartment without need to open the main line-voltage compartment; an accessible compartment door covering the access side of the accessible compartment from a front side of the motor control center unit; and feed-through terminals mounted within the accessible compartment, for test points and pilot devices operating at low, control voltages.

MCC unit troubleshooting compartment

A connect/disconnect mechanism for an MCC unit, prevents a circuit breaker from being turned on while the unit is being inserted into an MCC section, until stabs of the unit have been connected to a power bus. A cam is rotatably mounted on a pivoted platform in the MCC unit, an actuating arm is coupled between a unit on/off handle of the MCC unit and the cam, and a bail is pivotally mounted on the pivoting platform and connected to a switch handle of the breaker. A cam surface in a slot of the cam is configured to engage a pin projecting from the bail, when the pivoted platform is forced in a backward direction to connect the stabs to the bus, thereby operatively connecting the unit on/off handle to the switch handle of the breaker.

Motor control center unit disconnect with interlocks

A swing mountfor a terminal block includes a hingemounted on a wallof an electrical enclosure, located near an openingin the wall, for passing a movable plug connectorfrom inside the enclosure to connect to a terminal blockoutside the enclosure. A leveris carried by the hinge, for moving the moveable connector. A guidefor directing movement of the movable connector is mounted on the wall near the opening. A connector supportis mounted on the lever, supporting the movable connector, the support including a pinthat slideably engages a longitudinal slotin the lever to move the support toward or away from the terminal block when the lever is actuated. The support includes a guide railthat slides through slotin the guide to align the movable connector with the opening.

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Murfreesboro, TN, United States of America

Walter J Richards